The Aviator Howard Hughes

by Bob McCaffery

This web site is
dedicated to spirit of aviation pioneer Howard Hughes and a salute to
his vast contributions to science, technology and medical research

It is appropriate for me to recognize two individuals that were my
personal friends and who were aviation confidants to the late Mr.
Hughes. It was their friendship, technical skills, advice and personal
devotion to duty that earned Howard Hughes the title; "The Father of
Commercial Aviation”

Glenn "Ode” Odekirk (1905-1985) –They met in 1933 during the filming of
the epic movie “Hells Angels” that Hughes was producing and directing.
Ode was a skilled pilot, craftsman/mechanic and an airplane builder; a
perfect compliment to Howard for that era. He and Howard flew thousands
of hours together testing and pioneering aviation technology. Ode built
the H-1 Racer, oversaw the details of the Hughes daring ‘around the
world flight’ in 1938, the XF-11 aircraft and Ode is credited with the
design and construction of the famous “Spruce Goose”.

Jack Real (1915-2005) - An aeronautical flight engineer at Lockheed
Aircraft Company. Jack was Howard's aviation eyes and ears that guided
the design and acquisition of many of Hughes airplanes for TWA and
Hughes Air West. Jack served as president of the Hughes helicopter
company and was responsible for the design and production of the AAH
‘Apache’ Helicopter. He was considered Hughes ‘last best friend’. He
was at Howard's side when he died on an airplane in route to Houston,
Texas from Mexico in 1976.

Bob McCaffery - I am honored to have known these two gentlemen. Ode
served as my Honorary Chairman, when I was Chairman of "The Committee to
Save the Hughes Flying Boat" in 1980. Jack was Director Emeritus of the
Board of Directors of the Aero Club of Southern California, Host of the
annual Howard Hughes Memorial Award banquet. I served as President of
the Aero Club in 1985.

The Movie, “THE
AVIATOR”

The Special Features Section of this Academy Award winning motion
picture starring Leo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes has many of my interviews
about Hughes and his airplanes, which is titled the “Modern Marvels - a
History Channel Documentary”. This biographic special was first aired
in December 2004 and is frequently rerun on the History Channel. It is
an excellent and more accurate synopsis of the life and achievements of
Howard Hughes.

“THE AVIATOR” is a great Hollywood Cinema production with superb
aviation scenes and actor performances; however many of the time frames
and story line characters were incorrect and the movie focused
excessively and too frequently on Hughes’ purported phobias that to my
knowledge did not occur.

Bob McCaffery

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